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''Elena da Feltre'' is an opera in three acts by 19th-century Italian composer Saverio Mercadante from a libretto by Salvatore Cammarano, well known as librettist of Donizetti's ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' and Verdi's ''Il trovatore''. The premiere took place at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 1 January 1839 as part of the Carnival Season. While not successful at the time, the opera was revived at La Scala in 1843 with twenty performances. ==Mercadante's "revolution"== When composing ''Elena da Feltre'' in 1838, Mercadante wrote to Francesco Florimo, laying out his ideas about how opera should be structured, following the "revolution" begun in his previous opera, ''Il giuramento'': :"I have continued the revolution I began in ''Il giuramento'': varied forms, cabalettas banished, crescendos out, vocal lines simplified, fewer repeats, more originality in the cadences, proper regard paid to the drama, orchestration rich but not so as to swamp the voices, no long solos in the ensembles (they only force the other parts to stand idle to the detriment of the action), not much bass drum, and a lot less brass band"〔Kaufman, Tom, "The Neglected Bel Canto Composers", ''The Meyerbeer Fan Club'', online at meyerbeer.com〕 ''Elena'' seems to match up with the new concepts: greater involvement of the orchestra; fewer vocal "fireworks"; a more simple vocal line but more adventuresome harmonies and drama when compared to ''Il giuramento''. "Mercadante wanted to break free from any formulas developed by earlier composers, especially those of Rossini......The romantic hero is given to the bass-baritone voice, and the villain was played by the famous French tenor Nourrit. The story is tragic and violent, filled with romantic intrigues and twisted passions. The part of Elena is one of Mercadante's outstanding soprano vocal roles. Her opening romanza is one of the opera's finest highlights, although he later replaced it with an equally brilliant florid cavatina. The finale to the third act is another extremely strong number. The skillfully wrought ensemble reflects the dramatic tension of the script, as the denouement comes to its tragic conclusion."〔(Rita Laurance, "All Music Guide" on answers.com )〕 In a 20th Century examination of Mercadante's operas by Patric Schmid, a critical comment noted: :A work of harmonic daring, subtlety and originally orchestrated, it suddenly makes sense of oft-quoted comparisons between Mercadante and Verdi. It has the overall coherence one looks for and finds in middle and late Verdi - a surprising anticipation, for ''Elena da Feltre'' dates from 1838, the year before Verdi's first opera.〔Schmid, Patric, "Rediscovering Mercadante", ''Opera'', vol. 26, No.4 (April 1975), p.332〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Elena da Feltre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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